"What we're going to have in place here through most of the rest of the week is a fairly active moisture flow coming in from the southeast and from the south," said Mitchell Gaines, a meteorologist in the National Weather Service Mount Holly office. "It's going to transport a lot of moisture into our region."

David A. Robinson, the New Jersey state climatologist at Rutgers University, said, "We're going to have to put up with a lot of humidity and on and off showers" until the weekend, which is expected to be sunny and comfortable, with temperatures around 80 inland and in the mid-70s at the coast.

A humid air will increase the chances of heavy downpours with any showers and thunderstorms, according to a hazardous weather outlook. The chances of stronger thunderstorms will grow as the workweek ends, likely peaking on Friday.

Storms dumped up to 2-plus inches of rain in New Jersey on Monday, according to unofficial reports to the Mount Holly and Upton, N.Y., weather service offices. Heavy rain also led to a flash flood warning in southern New Jersey on Tuesday, and the soakings followed a wetter than normal spring and year to date, according to experts.

Ocean County received 23 inches of precipitation — 3.6 inches above the norm, according to the center.

But Robinson said most of the precipitation since the end of March fell during two storms.

It could become a lot wetter if a hurricane or tropical storm unloads on New Jersey this summer or fall.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted a near-normal to below-normal Atlantic hurricane season. There's a 70 percent chance of eight to 13 named storms forming, with winds of at least 39 mph. Of those storms, three to six could become hurricanes, with winds of at least 74 mph. One to two of the hurricanes could be major Category 3, 4 or 5 storms, with winds of at least 111 mph, according to NOAA.

New Jersey summers during an El Niño, when ocean waters warm in the eastern Pacific Ocean, tend to have near-average precipitation and cooler temperatures, according to a report by Dan Zarrow of the Office of the New Jersey State Climatologist.

There's a 70 percent chance of El Niño forming this summer and an 80 percent chance this fall and winter, according to the Climate Prediction Center.